Sledding
On Saturday I made the mistake of telling Pia we may go sledding the next day. Mistake, because she did not have the right clothes here at the house and she did not have a sled either …
Sunday morning after walking the dogs in freezing temperatures we ventured out in order to get all the necessary supplies for an afternoon sledding-adventure. We had the hardest time finding a snow-suit for her and ended up buying a jacket-/padded-pants combo at a sports store in Villa-Linda mall. Yep, it’s a boys jacket, but Pia did not mind at all, in fact she liked it to wear boys clothes. At the same store we also found an inflatable tube-sled with some handles on both sides. Just perfect for her.
After her nap we bundled up and drove up to Hyde Park about half-way up to the ski basin. Hyde Park has a dedicated sledding area with two runs: one is the bunny hill and the other one is a steeper and longer ride. As it was the first time for Pia to go sledding, we started out half-way up on the bunny hill. She was a little scared on the first run (that was quite the surprise, because she’s usually not scared of anything). You should have seen the big smile on her face after her first ride had ended. “Higher, higher” she demanded for the second ride and the 2nd one started 3/4 up on the bunny hill.
From then on we had to go all the way up on the hill and all further rides started at the very top, where “the big kids” also started. She really had a blast and we had to do this for about 1.5 hrs. Whenever she finished a ride, I had to go down all the way to the bottom of the hill to meet her and help her back up with the sled (was a bit too slippery for her to make it all by herself). Back on the top she jumped on the sled and immediately went down again. So daddy also got a workout from climbing up and down the hill 25 times.
Around 5pm when it got dark and the temperatures started to drop below the 20s we decided to go back home and have some hot chocolate. I guess I know what I’m doing next weekend.
excellent. when my nieces and nephews come to santa fe, the sledding hill next to the ski area parking lot is #1 on their list. they’re old enough to climb up by themselves, but my brother and i stand at the bottom as ‘catchers’ so they don’t end up in the creek.
and, if i do good, they let me sit on one of the sleds …